Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[Beekissed]

Yeah...mine don't share, they just like a next door neighbor is all.

 

[loanwizard]

Great, now all I have to do is build smaller boxes lol!

 

[NanaKat]

Hens like another hen in the nest box next to them...they talk to each other. The smaller, more cozy and close setups are what they like.

Great, now all I have to do is build smaller boxes lol!

Of course, some of mine like to share...found two and three hens in one pair of nest boxes....and there was a 10 holer hanging one the wall wih only 4 hens in it.....go figure.

 

[Beekissed]

I used to have a 10 holer and they would only use 2 nest frequently and maybe one other when they just couldn't hold their eggs any longer..and that was a flock of 30. For this current flock of 11, I have 2 large nest boxes only...and they still want to wait on the one with a hen in it. Doesn't matter which one it is, long as it's the one that is already occupied...

 

[Gargoyle]

I'd still cull...

I certainly understand the logic and have no problem with it. However, one of the pleasures and luxuries of having a very small flock it being able to give personal attention to the "misfits". For example, one of our 1-1/2 year old hens, Mossy, would never have made it to laying age if she had stayed in her original flock of 100 birds; she is splay legged, clumsy, can't grip with her right foot so she trips and slips and stumbles around. She wouldn't have been able to make it down the ladder to free range with her old flock, and she would have had a hard time fighting her way to the food or jumping up to the nest boxes. We made the coop and run "handicap accessible"; easy steps of textured stone to climb up to the coop, a wide board (with corrugated cardboard for good grip and easy cleaning/replacement) under the perch, so she can jump up to it and step up to the perch, etc... No cost in the accessibility modifications, just a bit of time and attention.

As a thank-you she laid through her first winter and has steadily given us 18 eggs a month since February. Eight eggs already this month, and she looks like she might give us another today.

Another of our girls, a 21 week old, has a severe wry tail (I posted earlier and elsewhere about it) but since we aren't planning on breeding, there is no reason to cull- she has a regal, mellow quiet disposition, and all the others like her. She also has been a mediator, getting in between when others squabble.

 

[galanie]

All 8 of my current layers use the same 2 boxes. Rather than wait in line, they'll sit right on top of each other if there isn't room. I've had 3 big butts in there at once, two squeezed in where 2 shouldn't fit, and one on top of both of them. So now, well, they just have 2 boxes. Why mess with any more if they won't use them. There's one or two, if they can't get in a box when they really need to, will lay in front of the coop. At least those are easy to find. I just feel like Why worry about keeping up a bunch of boxes when they're only going to use 2? I do have another milk crate (all my nest boxes are large slatted boxes with cut down milk crates in them) to the side for a "just in case" but no one uses it.

 

[bruceh]

i will add my 2 cents. well my layers are laying up a egg storm. yeah for me . egg sales. i watch my flock with a very stern eyes. i have 16 layers at this time. i have a 18 hole nest box. when i collect eggs, sometimes i go when they are reading the newspaper and drinking coffee in the nest box. i have seen them 2 to a box with all those nest boxes the layers use only 3 of them. it is a funny sight 1 head in the box and one butt out of the box.
i have learned my girls don't like being disturbed during peak laying hours. if they are in the box. they will puff up and growl.

as far as disabled chickens. depending on the disability and how severe it is ,would i make a decision.to slaughter or not. i have crossbeak hen that is not bad, not severe. i kept her around. she does get a monthly trimming on the beak. she is the new chicken greeter . she served as a wonderful mother to my 31 meat birds. so my call on her was right.
now would i ever use her as a breeder . no way. i won't pass down bad genetics.
if your chicken can live as a chicken and serves a purpose to your flock. keep it and deal with the disability. if becomes a problem or can't function to sustain it;s self, cull it . if you don't cull it at this point the other chickens may..

 

[Beekissed]

The problem with keeping disabled birds is there comes a time where you have to ask yourself...where do I draw the line? As season adds to season and chicken life goes along, you may find yourself with this or that bird that doesn't do well and causes more work or trouble, or this bird that doesn't lay but she sure is friendly, or this one that is crippled and has to be kept isolated or the other birds pick on her or whatever.

If you keep birds for years and your goal is to at least not lose money on the venture, somewhere along the way a person needs to decide if you are running a home for misfit toys or actually raising chickens for food? Once started, the sentiment can gain momentum and pretty soon you have a flock that is eating but not producing, causing you more time away from your family because they require extra care or you are dealing with the stress of trying to nurse birds along where you really didn't need added stress in your life.

When OTs advise to cull, they do it with those years behind them and not in front...we know what it takes to be successful at this chicken keeping thing for years upon years, not for a season or two. Keeping chickens doesn't have to be complicated but it quickly becomes so when people get frustrated when this chicken has perpetually bare skin or that one doesn't lay..ever..or this one walks with a limp and WHY??

It may seem heroic or heart felt to "save" this one or that one and you can see that she was of benefit later on...but what about the next one? And the one after that? And when you have whole flocks of crippled, bald, barren chickens~but gee they sure are friendly!~when do you finally just call it what it is...a flock of pets.

We OTs may seem like the baddies and heartless and we just don't know the worth of these cute animals that steal your heart...but we know chickens. We've been doing this thing for years and have found that sentiment gets out of hand and soon you really don't have chickens... you just have animals that are pretty much worthless for anything but to look at and throw money towards.

 

[normanack]

I can see both sides. As much as I want to say one side or the other (cull/not cull) is right, I can't. Keeping a happy but not-quite-right chicken alive as a pet? Sure. The chicken is happy, and you're happy to see it happy. Becoming that lady with 87 cats, half-starved, and kids that smell like cat pee? No way. Somewhere between those two extremes is a line, and it's fuzzy, and probably not in the same place for everyone.

But I needed Beekissed to remind me that one good deed can become not-good when placed in a larger context.

 

[Gargoyle]

We OTs may seem like the baddies and heartless

Not at all, it makes perfect sense and is a very good way to do flock management; but, different strokes for different folks. For us, a flock of 5 is just right, plenty of eggs for our family, and endless entertainment; I have friends who regularly spend $200 to go to a baseball game (two tickets, two beers, two hot dogs, popcorn, and parking... personally I have more fun watching the chooks, and so I don't mind having some misfits.

We did have one bad hen, she was a very good layer but was heavily pecking, drawing blood, and terrorizing the other three that we had at the time. She got re homed to a big flock, where the others could keep her in line and she could continue producing. She did din't cause any problems there, and if she had they would have renamed her "stew".